Vice Admiral Kenneth Whitesell, the commander of Naval Air Forces, accepted the keys of the first Leonardo TH-73A in a ceremony held June 10 at the manufacturer’s Philadelphia factory. Handing over the helicopter on behalf of Leonardo was William Hunt, CEO of the company’s U.S. helicopter division.
The TH-73A is based on the commercial AW119Kx and is fully FAA-approved for single-engined IFR flight. Power comes from a Pratt & Whitney PT6B-37A, and the helicopter is equipped with dual safety/hydraulic systems and Genesys Aerosystems digital avionics.
Leonardo won the competition to provide an off-the-shelf helicopter to answer the U.S. Navy’s needs for an undergraduate Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS) and was awarded an initial $177 million contract for 32 aircraft in January 2020. A second batch of 36 was ordered in November, valued at $171 million. The Navy has a total requirement for 130, with deliveries to be completed during 2024. In addition to the helicopters, Leonardo is providing simulators, logistics support, maintenance and flight line support.
“This delivery signifies a new era for Naval Aviation training," said Rear Admiral Robert Westendorff, Chief of Naval Aviation Training. “By using current cockpit technologies and a new training curriculum, the TH-73A will improve pilot training and skills, and ensure rotary-wing aviators are produced more efficiently at a higher quality and are ready to meet the fleet’s challenges.”
Whitesell commented that: “The cutting-edge technology and advanced avionics within the Advanced Helicopter Training System will enable a more seamless transition from the training aircraft to fleet aircraft, this in turn allows more focus on high-end warfighting development and training.”
Currently 14 helicopters are in the assembly process in Philadelphia. Delivery of these initial helicopters will allow the Navy to begin training a cadre of instructors and validating a new syllabus prior to the first students flying the aircraft. The TH-73As will operate with Training Air Wing Five (TAW-5) from NAS Whiting Field South Base, near Milton, Florida. There they will supplant the aging Bell TH-57 Sea Ranger, a Model 206-based helicopter that has been in use since 1968 in three versions. The “sundown” of the Sea Ranger will begin in 2022, and the last is due to retire in 2025.
TAW-5 is responsible for training all rotary-wing students for the Navy, Marines and Coast Guard, as well as some from overseas air arms. The wing has an annual throughput of several hundred Naval Aviators. At the naval air station’s adjoining North Base fixed-wing students train on the Beechcraft T-6B.
Initially the TH-73As will be housed and serviced in a temporary hangar pending the construction of a new maintenance facility. Leonardo is building a 100,000-sq ft hangar in Whiting Aviation Park, across the runway from the naval air station. Ground is due to be broken in December and construction is expected to commence in 2023.